Companies that received tens of millions that were stolen from Equity Bank in 2024 by a rogue employee have been revealed. The companies have been revealed in a court case that was filed by the bank.
According to the court case, the millions were stolen from Equity Bank through unauthorized transfers that were conducted by the Equity employee who was identified as Geoffrey Kiragu between May 17, 2024 and June 14 2024. These funds were then deposited into the accounts of eight companies.
These companies included Ubahashi Traders Limited, Calabash Adventures Limited, Jahnur Investment, Kariye Investment, Flowerish International, Kariye Salah Ali, Hotho Investments, and Sasa Pay Trust.
According to court details, Equity Bank asked the court to freeze the bank accounts of Ubahashi Traders Limited subject to a maximum of Sh207,720,020, Kariye Investment Limited’s Sh85,740,300, Calabash Adventures Limited’s Sh32,000, Flowerish International’s Sh11 million, Kariye Salah Ali’s Sh6 million, Hotho Investments Limited Sh93.04 million, and Jahnur Investments Limited’s Sh18.5 million.
The bank further told the court that Sasa Pay Trust had received Sh88 million but had requested the bank to hold a lien over Sh26.5 million.
In making their defense, these companies had alleged that Kiragu had approached them claiming that he was a property agent who had a huge amount of money to convert into US dollars.
How Sh. 1.5 billion was stolen from Equity Bank in daring July money heist
The Equity employee told them that he would deposit the money into their accounts. They would then remit it to him [in dollars] and earn their commission. They claimed that they were unaware of where the money had come from, and it was only after the heist went public that they realized that it had been stolen from Equity.
The companies also admitted to the court that the money had passed through other accounts before finally making its way to their accounts.
In making a ruling on whether to freeze the accounts, High Court judge Justice Alfred Mabeya sided with Equity Bank, and ruled that the bank risked losing a significant amount of money if the accounts remained unfrozen.
